Introduction
Each month, Chaos Labs delivers comprehensive, data-driven analysis of Renzo’s key metrics, ensuring full transparency for the community. By closely monitoring utilization trends, liquidity dynamics, and borrower behaviors, Chaos Labs aims to proactively identify and mitigate emerging risks to maintain protocol stability.
Performance
November was defined by a sharp downturn in crypto markets, which drove heightened volatility, strained liquidity conditions, and accelerated deleveraging of riskier assets on Aave, as well as the Balancer exploit, which directly impacted ezETH liquidity.
Despite this, ezETH maintained steady positive performance throughout the month, appreciating from 1.06363 at the start of November to 1.06599 by month-end. This increase corresponds to an annualized realized APR of approximately 2.66%, consistent with the protocol’s expected staking-driven yield profile.
Even with heightened market volatility, deviation stayed broadly in line with the previous month’s range, reaching an absolute low of approximately –0.24% on November 9 before recovering toward peg by month-end.
Collateral flows in November were predominantly negative. While inflows remained sporadic and relatively small in size, several sizable outflow events particularly mid-month led to a clear net reduction in collateral over the period.
Liquidity
In November, Renzo’s withdrawal buffer was primarily supported by ETH, with balances consistently holding in the 28k–34k ETH range. stETH balances fluctuated more noticeably throughout the month, reflecting its role as the more actively used component of the buffer. By month-end, stETH held near 1.7k. Overall, the buffer remained well-provisioned.
November saw significant liquidity outflows across ezETH markets, driven by a combination of broader market conditions and the Balancer V2 exploit on November 3, which drained approximately 790 ezETH from Balancer pools on Ethereum. Liquidity on Ethereum is now primarily maintained by Fluid pools, which saw some outflows but remained broadly stable, currently holding around 2,314 ETH and 1,535 ezETH.
Arbitrum experienced the sharpest contraction, with over 80% of DEX liquidity exiting across Balancer, Uniswap, and Fluid. Linea similarly saw notable reductions, particularly on Uniswap and EtherEx. Despite these shifts, exit liquidity across chains continues to be predominantly concentrated in wETH.
Composabilty
Most ezETH deployed within DeFi continues to sit on Aave, making it the primary venue for ezETH usage. Throughout November, Aave exposure declined, with total cross-chain ezETH market exposure falling from roughly 197k ezETH at the start of the month to around 124k ezETH by month-end. Positions decreased across all chains, with both Ethereum and Linea experiencing contractions of roughly 56% over the period.
Borrowing activity against ezETH declined in November across both Ethereum-Prime and Ethereum-Core markets. On Prime, borrow demand fell sharply by mid-month, with outstanding positions dropping from over $100M at the start of November to below $20M amid the broader market drawdown. Core markets exhibited a similar but more gradual decline, with total borrows decreasing from roughly $300M to around $150M by month-end. Collectively, these reductions point to a significant contraction in leverage across both Aave deployments as users shifted toward a more conservative risk posture.
Ethereum-Prime
Ethereum-Core
Despite the significant deleveraging throughout November, the structure of the supplier base across both Aave Prime and Core remained largely unchanged. The same large accounts continued to hold the majority of ezETH supply on both markets, though each scaled down their positions meaningfully compared to October. This indicates that the overall reduction in exposure was driven by existing suppliers trimming balances rather than changes in supplier identities or concentration.
Ethereum-Prime
Ethereum-Core
Summary
Overall, November presented a challenging environment for ezETH, with market volatility, the Balancer exploit, and resulting cross-chain liquidity outflows weighing on activity. Despite these pressures, ezETH maintained its peg within expected ranges, delivered consistent yield, and preserved sufficient buffer liquidity on Ethereum.
Although liquidity conditions across several chains remain thinner, Renzo’s current risk posture is stable, with no immediate signs of structural stress. Deleveraging across Aave, combined with increased withdrawals, indicates softer demand for ezETH. Continued monitoring of liquidity depth, protocol integrations, and shifts in leveraged DeFi strategies will be essential as market conditions evolve.